Orchid Stone: The Hunger Games 70
by The Heart Asks Pleasure First
Summary: The story of Orchid Stone in the Seventieth annual Hunger Games.
1. The Reaping Begins

I sat leaning against a branch up in the treetops enjoying a peach that I had managed to nick from my fruit basket. We weren't supposed to eat the fruit. Ever. It was considered stealing from the Capital and there was at least one person that got beaten in front of the other workers daily for trying to spirit away something from the orchard. The peach that I was eating came from the oldest and tallest tree that we worked with, and we called it Granny Peaches.

My teeth cleaned off the last of the succulent fruit from the pit, and I put it into my pocket, so that I could dispose of it later. Upon finishing my peach, I reached into my bag and removed a wad of green herbs and started chewing on it. The herbs, when chewed up and wet, helped to draw out the toxins that were caused by stings from the Tracker Jackers. I placed the herb against the welt that I had received two days earlier on my right leg. I sighed in relief as the toxins were attracted into the herb wad. The work bell sounded and signaled the end of the work day.

Along with the other workers, I made my way out of the trees of the orchard, and I heard a sudden shout and then the stealing alarm blasted through the forest. The stealing alarm was a very loud, short, but repetitive blare from a trumpet. Somebody had tried to still a piece of fruit from the quota. I heard the groans from the other workers as we turned around from the gates to leave the orchard and made our way to the stealer's pavilion.

The stealer's pavilion, also known as the reaper's stage, was a large, elaborate platform with marble columns holding up a silver and golden roof. The number eleven was written in bronze roman numerals in the center of the pavilion's roof. Three people were in the center: a young man, probably the age of twenty five, was flanked on his left and right by one of the Capital's soldiers. When all of the workers had finally fallen in and gotten set down on the granite benches surrounding the pavilion, the three people on the stage moved.

The young man, who I now recognized as Oak Leewards, was forced to his knees by the soldiers on his sides. Oak was the son of the former mayor, and for him to have stolen something from the Capital was strange. His long auburn hair was held in a ponytail to keep it out of his face, and his brown eyes searched the crowd of workers. He often helped my family by providing us with food that his parents had not wanted to consume. Our eyes met and I looked away, afraid about what would happen.

"Oak Leewards, you have been brought here to be punished by the law for the crime that you committed against the Capital. You have stolen multiple pieces of fruit from the trees of the Capitals orchard, and for that you will be punished in front of your coworkers of the orchard. Your sentence shall be ten lashes as this is your first offense," Said the soldier on the left. His voice was harsh and he was short and rotund. He reached around to Oak's side and, with a knife, ripped his shirt off to reveal his back. They turned him around and produced a whip from the left soldier. The soldier, a small, thin man, looked as though he were about to be sick as he lifted the whip into the air.

I shall not describe the way that Oak was treated in his beatings. The only thing that I will say is that the man on the left, unable to continue with his assignment, had been taken away by the other soldiers that rung the outside of the granite benches to prevent the workers from escaping. The short round man became enraged at this, and so he made Oak's beatings worse than they should have been.

Shortly after, I was walking along the path from the orchard to my home. The lights in my home were on, just like normal, and when I opened the door, I found my family sitting around the dinner table. There was only one problem though – they were stiffer than logs. I wondered why that was. I walked to the sink and washed my hands to rid them of the dirt that caked them from my day's work in the orchard.

I took my spot next to my little brother, Thorn, who wad short black hair and forest green eyes. He was small for a five year old. He was my little one, and I took care of him more than my parents did, as they were always busy running the pastry shop and kitchen.

My mother, a small woman with graying black hair usually pulled into a bun, ran the front of the pastry, where she gave samples of pastries to little children and took orders and such. She sat on the right side of the table, and she looked distraught. My father, a tall, reddened man from the time that he spent in front of the fires of our kitchen. He now sat, staring at the grains in the dark wood of our table.

"Dad?" I asked, hearing my voice crack from lack of usage during the day. It was lower than most of the other girls my age, and for that I was glad; I didn't like the soprano sound, as it was always too high pitched.

He didn't answer me, and instead, looked up at me then jerked his thumb behind him. I looked and found the calendar that hung next to the sink, and I saw the big red circled date. Then I realized why they were distraught. Tomorrow was the reaping.

XXX

It was early. The sun hadn't come out yet. My mother prodded me gently awake and ushered me to our bathroom, where I showered quickly, and my mother dried my hair. After, her hands deftly braided my long black hair into a complicated braid, and weaved in a long strand of purple and gold, something to illustrate my name, my mother said. She then applied makeup to my face, to bring out my emerald eyes and the flecks of gold in them.

Next, she helped me dress in a long purple gown which faded from light at the top to dark at the bottom that belonged to my mother. To accentuate it, she gave me a pair of black heels, which I had trouble in because I was so used to working barefoot in the orchards.

Finally, I was ready for the reaping. My name was inside of the huge bowl only twenty four times. Not too many, but yet, enough that we could get by. I hoped that I wasn't going to be chosen. They set up two huge bowls each for all twelve districts. One for the girls, and one for the boys. When you are twelve, your name goes in once. At thirteen, twice. At fourteen, thrice, and so on. You could get your name added more if you took out the vouchers for grains.

When it was time, my mother hastily woke my father and younger brother, and after getting them ready, we began our walk to the orchard's reaper's stage. It was a short walk, because we lived close by the orchard. Thorn began to cry a little, but our mother held his hand and kept him back with her, although I knew that he would be longing to hold my hand. I kept my head straight as I walked through the gates into the forest of little granite benches. We were just on time. The other families were almost completely gathered, save for just a few that were straggling behind.

Up on the stage were three chairs. One for the mayor, another for the last champion of District Eleven, and the last for the escort. The mayor's chair and the champions chairs were occupied. The mayor, a tall, lanky woman named Peaches Poplar sat looking rather bored in her chair. She had long fly-away gray hair and she had dark eyes that one could never tell the color of. She was dressed in a beige dress with a red and blue sash bearing the insignia for District Eleven: A huge tree with an apple in the middle of its boughs.

The champion sat a bit more at attention. She was in her mid twenties, and her long red hair she kept pushed behind her ears, and her clear blue eyes searched the crowd, wondering who would be unfortunate enough to get picked out of that bowl. She wore a lengthy green dress that contrasted with her fiery hair and made it look really bright.

The escort's chair was empty, and that was because the man that was our district's escort was busy bouncing up and down on his feet looking out around the crowd. He had short baby blue hair and eyes that matched them. He wore a suit that was a dark, midnight blue. This man, from the Capital, was the strangest man I'd ever seen. He always seemed too happy when he came to the reaping. It was rather unnerving.

Finally, all of the people of District Eleven were gathered in the reapers' stage. The Capital's soldiers spread themselves equally around the pavilion so that none could escape the reaping. Whoever was picked would be forced into it, unless somebody offered themselves up as a tribute, but that rarely happened. Ever.

"Well, let's get down to it!" Called the escort. "My name is Ruben Goff, and this is the reaping for the Seventieth Hunger Games!" His voice, an annoying high-pitched tone, resounded around the pavilion. He turned and skipped/jumped to his chair as the mayor stood up.

"Welcome all," The woman said. "As you very well know, I am the mayor of District Eleven, Peaches Poplar. The Hunger Games have been a very prestigious event to remind us of the horrible things that our ancestors committed against the Capital..." She continued in this fashion for some time, still sounding bored. I wondered what could make this woman so... monotone. It was annoying. I would deal with Ruben Goff for a day before I would sit with Peaches Poplar for an hour. Finally she finished, and the champion stood.

"Good morning my good people," She said. Her voice was an alto, like mine, although slightly higher.

"I am the champion of the Sixty Third Hunger Games, Cheryl Holly. I wish those that will be chosen in today's reaping the best of luck," She said, and with an air of finality, turned and walked back to her chair.

Ruben Goff, clearly disappointed with Cheryl's speech (which was always very short, as Cheryl wasn't very friendly), stood up and resumed his cheer from before.

"So, ladies first then?" Ruben said. His voice was thick with anticipation. There was a groan from the crowd, and all of the families that held daughters of the correct ages grasped around the hand's of their daughters.

Ruben Goff's hand rolled around through the strips of paper that layered the bowl labeled "Girls" and pulled out a particularly curly piece of paper. He cleared his throat, and with a low, rather clear voice uttered one word that caused my mother to dig her nails into my wrist and my father to give a low moan of pain. Distantly, I heard my little one Thorn cry out gently. He had said my name.

"Orchid Stone,"


	2. Off to the Capital

Orchid Stone. I couldn't believe that he drew my name. My family was crying around me, and my little brother Thorn was wailing louder than anything in the reaper's stage. Ruben Goff looked around the crowd of people from District Eleven until his face lighted upon mine.

"Come now, Miss Stone, we can't keep the rest of Panem waiting!" He called, his cheery voice seriously getting on my nerves. On second thought, I might have spent an entire month with Peaches Poplar before having to go to the Hunger Games with this man.

I turned to my family, gave my parents hugs, and then crouched down so that I was eye level with Thorn. His face was tear-streaked and his eyes were red from crying. Tremors ran through his body, and they calmed slightly when I put my arms around him.

"Thorn, be strong my little one," I whispered.

I stood up again and began walking away from my family. I never knew when I would see them again, or if I would see them again. I clenched my jaw tight so that I wouldn't risk the chance of breaking down in front of the rest of Panem. That was all I needed: to appear a cry baby amongst the rest of the country.

I came to the edge of the stage walking as erect as I could, careful to keep my mouth shut. Ruben Goff shook my hand and so did Peaches Poplar and Cheryl Holly. Ruben Goff had me stand to the right of her while she began again for the male tribute.

"Well, let's look for the boy tribute then, shall we?" Ruben said, his voice turning sweet again. His hands roamed amongst the strips of paper for a second or two before his long fingers closed around a piece of paper that had been folded in half. He cleared his throat and then:

"Willow Nettles," Ruben called.

My heart dropped. Willow was my oldest friend. We'd met when we were three. The fact that I would be faced with the prospect of having to possibly kill my best friend... It made me shiver with feelings that I was not familiar with. _Why do things like this happen?_I thought to myself. It was completely unfair.

Willow – tall, blond, tanned, handsome Willow – began walking towards the stage. I saw his oldest sister and his mother and father holding back the twins dark haired Ebony and his sister the red-head Cherry from running forward to grab Willow. So sad to lose a family member when that member is only sixteen...

Willow walked slowly but straighter than a rod up to the stage. He shook hands with the others, and then Ruben turned to the crowd.

"Ladies and gentlemen, you're District Eleven Seventieth Annual Hunger Games competitors!" He said, his voice jumping.

The crowd did a very minimal amount of applause, none of which was truly intended. There were looks of relief on every face except for those of the family of Willow and mine. Tonight, while our families wept, the rest of District Eleven would celebrate that they could still hold onto their children for the next year.

XXX

I was sitting in a big, round room, full of plushy red and purple chairs. This is where they kept tributes while they got their last visit from their families. I knew this because my family members were surrounding me and weeping. I held Thorn in my lap, shushing him with words of comfort that I couldn't make true, such as: "I'll be back soon,"s or "I'll win it all,"s.

"You can bring something with you, to remind you of home," My father said, his voice cracking on the word home.

"Here," My mother said, removing something from her small black purse. It was small and silver, and she made me close my eyes.

I felt her lift my hair over my shoulder and then wrap something around my neck. When I opened my eyes, I found a beautiful silver necklace with a delicate flower crafted of white gold on it laying gently in the center of my chest.

I saw the tears in my mother's eyes, and I realized that this was supposed to be my woman-hood gift. When children from District Eleven pass the final year of their eligibility for the games, their parents give them a gift representing their adult hood and their freedom from the troubling grip of the Capital's punishment.

"I love you," My mom whispered.

"I love you as well," My father said, his voice cracking once again.

"I love you sissy," Thorn said, his constricted voice said into my chest.

"I love you more than you know," I said. "Cyan, Scarlett, Thorn: take care of each other no matter what happens," I said, using each of their first names to let them know how serious I was.

"We promise," My father said.

That was when the guards came to escort my family away from me. They hugged me, and with an air of finality, my parents left the room.

A moment later, I was greeted by Ruben Goff, who was happily examining his nails.

"Well, shall we?" He asked. I said nothing, to show this blue guy that I would not be enjoying his company very much.

Ruben left me in the foyer with the guards as he went to retrieve Willow from his family room. When Willow came out, my face contorted and I felt hot tears stinging my face. He had tears running down his face too, and on his right hand, I saw the gleam of a silver ring set with a blue stone. That must have been his home keepsake.

"Come along children, we've got a long trip, and the trains take _forever_ to make one trip," Ruben Goff said.

XXX

It became very obvious just how completely and utterly dense our escort was. He constantly talked – about nothing. Nothing he said ever gave me any form of enlightenment.

"... And the stylists are going to have a field day with you two!" Ruben said, his eyes raking over Willow and I. We were sitting there eating some weird kind of stew. It tasted odd, and I pushed it away after another bite.

"Are you OK?" Ruben asked me, his face actually looking concerned.

"Yeah, this stew tastes off," I said.

"I love it," He said and then clapped his hands, summoning in the waiters. "Bring Orchid something other than stew," He commanded.

The waiters bowed themselves out of the room and then returned a moment later with a plate loaded with a baked potato, sour cream, cheese, and butter. I thanked the waiters and then ate, the potato tasting much better than the stew. When I finished, Ruben looks at Willow and I and said:

"Off to bed now! Big day tomorrow. We reach the Capital and you have to meet the stylists,"

I walk off to my compartment and strip down and get in the covers. They are heated, and I fall asleep almost instantly, feeling anxious about the next day, and how I'll be presented for the parade.


	3. Prepping and Peaches

Ruben Goff came into my room and shoved me out of bed into a sitting position on the floor.

"Up you get!" His voice cried, highly enthusiastic.

"Ugh," I said in response.

"Get ready. Breakfast in ten, and the Capital in an hour. Let's go!" Ruben said.

I finally forced myself awake by climbing into a shower. It was really hot and when I got out, my skin was glowing pink. I walked through the train to the dining room, where I found a large breakfast awaiting me, along with Ruben, Willow, and Cheryl.

"Sleep well?" Cheryl called, her voice cynical.

"No. I kept tossing and turning. Stupid train is louder than I thought," I said.

Cheryl smirked, and then grabbed a bagel and a piece of bacon.

"Sit down and eat. You'll need the strength for when the stylists get a hold of you," She said.

I sat down next to willow and started picking bits off of a piece of toast, my appetite being nearly non-existent.

"Are you OK?" Willow asked me.

I nodded my head in answer to him.

Another fifteen minutes passed by and then Ruben said:

"Let's go watch the rest of the reaping!"

We stuffed ourselves into a small room with a TV, and then the shutters closed, enveloping us in darkness with tiny bits of shaded light.

The reaping began with the anthem, and then broke off to District One. A girl with short brown hair named Silk and a boy that looked remarkably just like her named Bronze were chosen.

District Two: A girl with red hair named Elsie and a boy with black hair named Jazz were chosen

District Three: A girl with long blond hair named Gaea, and a boy with no hair named Iron.

District Four: A girl with hair dyed blue pulled into a ponytail named Angel and a boy with red hair named Marco.

District Five: Blond haired Yule and brown haired Jackson.

District Six: Cotton and Levi.

District Seven: Hazel and Rex.

District Eight: Gems and Denim.

District Nine: Copper and Fiber.

District Ten: Keller and Jamie.

We finally got to District Eleven, and they played our reaping scene, before moving onto District Twelve, who's chosen tributes were named Snow and Coal.

Then it was over. Thank heavens.

"All right, we'll be in the Capital in about twenty minutes. Make sure you have everything," Ruben said.

XXX

We'd finally made it to the Capital. I watched as we flew through the city, taking everything in. The huge buildings, the strange people. We came to a stop in a train station and were escorted quickly to a building where I was told that our stylists would meet us and take care of our 'deprived' looks.

I stood there with Willow highly uncomfortable.

"Well?" I asked.

"Well what?" Willow asked me, his voice confused.

"What do you think? Of the Capital?" I asked.

"It's enormous. I never thought I'd see it," He said.

"I agree," I told him.

A moment later, a door to the right swung open, and a man and a woman stepped into the room. The man, about fife feet tall and skinnier than a rail, looked me up and down. He had long black hair and there was some kind of purple eyeliner around his eyes. The woman, looking Willow up and down, seemed to be a replica of the man.

"So, you two are the tributes this year. Well, we've got our work cut out for us. I am Gin," The man said. "And this is Mercedes," He said, indicating the woman.

"We're your stylists," Mercedes said, a grin on her face.

"But before we get to work with you," Gin said.

"Our prep teams are going to have to deal with you. I mean, just _look_ at those eyebrows," Mercedes said, eying my face.

My eyebrows came together and made a scowl appear on my face.

"Exactly. When you do that, honey, you seem to get a unibrow," Mercedes said sympathetically.

Great. Just perfect. Then out of nowhere, six people emerged from two other doors. One, a gold-skinned woman with long silver hair tied up in a bow appeared in my sight. She grabbed my long hair and began running her hands through it.

"Tsk," The woman said. "She doesn't have much for you to work with there, Athens," She said to a man with light green skin and dark green hair.

"And she's got nails for the dead, Leena," Athens said to the gold woman.

"And would you just _look_ at her wardrobe," Said a light-purple skinned woman with pink hair.

"Please, Kai, that's why she has Gin," Said Athens.

A moment later, I realized that I was being pushed into a chair beside a bathtub full of a foul-smelling orange liquid.

"In you get!" Kai said, and pushed me into the liquid. It was piping hot, and it slightly burned my skin when I got in. About five minutes later, the prep team came back in and helped me out, washing my skin off with clear water.

"There, got all that body hair off!" Leena said.

I looked down at her words, and noticed that except for my hair (which had been pulled up out of my face) all of the hair on my body had come off. Whatever that orange crap they'd soaked me in killed hair!

They sat me down and began to buff and polish and lotion and powder every inch of my body. When they were done, my body and hair felt abused.

Leena had taken my nails and filed them and scraped all of the dirt out from them. Then she polished them in a pretty gold color, that was much more inviting and warm than the color of Leena's skin. Kai had gone to work on my eyebrows, applying a hot wax to them and ripping the hair follicles out of my face, and doing the same around my upper lip, and then applying a creamy face mask of makeup to my face and adding light pink blush here and there. Athens had taken to my hair, trimming here and there, cutting a few strands every now and then. When he got done, he sprayed something on it and rubbed the hair to make it shiny. Then he braided a long multi-colored strand of cloth into my hair.

I'd been worked on for about an hour. Then when they'd finished, they walked me to a little orange door in the right wall of the room.

"Go in and sit down until Gin gets there, but do nothing unless he tells you to," Leena said.

"um, OK?" I said.

I walked through the little door which closed behind me, and I sat in my little white dress they'd given me on a small black stool.

Then a door opened to the left, and Gin walked in, his arms full of some kind of long material.

"OK, dress off, on the stool," Gin said.

I blushed as I slid the silk off my body and then stood on the stool.

"Quite a figure. I'll have to make some cuts to the side-lines, let out the hips and the chest" Gin said, doing a quick one-over of my body.

I blushed again. Then the next thing I knew, Gin was surrounding me with some kind of silk dress, with a few different colors. A pale orange here, a light pink there, a deep burn orange around the fringes, a yellow running throughout. District Eleven was about agriculture. The stylists were supposed to come up with a costume that represented what our district specialized in.

"There, I think that'll do it," Gin said, pulling his needle out from my hip area. He pressed a button on his left side and suddenly out of a hole in the floor, a mirror rose.

The girl standing in front of me was not what I'd expected to see.

She was graceful and elegant in her outfit. The dress, which started with the burnt orange color on the fringes, faded out to the pale orange, then the yellow, and then out to the pink near the bottom. Her face, which looked like cream with light pink blush on her cheeks, had a slight scowl on it, but with the way it had been morphed, it looked more like a pout.

"There. I think we'll go for cute and innocent," Gin said.

"Oh?" I asked.

"Yes. Just like a peach," He said nodding.

My stomach dropped. Did they know that I worked in the peach trees of the orchards back home?

"The dress is really beautiful," I said to change the subject.

"Oh yes," Gin said. "And Willow will look that way as well. We'll have to explain in the interview the color scheme. Otherwise, they'll think you're supposed to look like the sunset,"

"Why did you use this color scheme?" I asked.

"Well, I know you work in the orchards, so I thought about the sweetest fruit that's in the orchards. And what fruit is that? A peach!" He said enthusiastically.

Right. A peach is sweet.

"Well, let's go, you don't want to keep Willow waiting!" Gin said, a cheery smile on his face.

"Sure," I said, grimmacing.


	4. The Chariot Ride

**Artemis-moon'17: Glad you liked it! I was trying to find something that would complement her appearance in my mind, and _that_ is what I came up with :P**

**Another chapter :)**

XXX

Willow looked a lot better than I did. He was dressed in a darker-toned suit, so he was more of a gold peach, whereas I was more of a white peach (Yes, there is a difference between the two). His yellows and oranges and pinks were much brighter than mine, which were soft and I supposed to be more lady-like. After all, Gin did say that we were going for cute and innocent.

"Wow," Willow said, looking down at me.

"Wow what?" I said, my eyebrows creasing.

"You're beautiful or course, but I think I prefer you looking like you just came home from the Orchards," Willow said, which of course made me blush.

"Shut up," I said. The two of us walked together to the elevator, and then went down, followed by Gin, Mercedes, Cheryl, and Ruben. When we got out of the elevator and got into our limousine, Gin pulled a small bag out of his cashmere suit pocket and my eyes narrowed.

"Easy honey, this is just something that you need to complete the outfit," Gin said, causing my skin to crawl when he said honey. No matter what this guy did, he was _not_ my friend, nor did I want him to be.

"Hands out, eyes shut," Gin said. I unwillingly obliged, and a moment later, I felt something heavy drop into my open palms. When my eyes flew open, I immediately homed in on the object that was lying in my hands.

It was a gently curved pink gem necklace that I recognized almost instantly. The shape was so familiar to me that I could have drawn it in my sleep. The pink was from a gem that I didn't know the name to. All I knew is that this necklace belonged to my mother. How did they get this? Had she asked them to give it to me? Before I could stop myself, I felt tears welling up in my eyes and I forced my eyes to shut tight to prevent the tears from coming out and smearing the makeup job that my prep team had created.

"Your mother asked me to have this given to you," Cheryl said, her voice suddenly warm. I looked at her, and saw that her usually so closed off face was actually softened now and looking at me with sorrow. Maybe it was sympathy for feeling lost without anyone, or perhaps empathy for knowing what it was like to have to enter the arena.

"Thank you," I whispered. Cheryl nodded and then glanced out of the window of the limousine. I hastily put the necklace on, where it nestled in the hollow of my neck.

XXX

"Here we go!" Ruben said, his face bristling with excitement. I rolled my eyes, and allowed Willow to help me out of the limo. When we got out, we found ourselves in a room full of chariots, horses, and the other tributes. They were decorated in multitudes of different outfits, some of them, especially District Twelve, were very gaudy and ugly looking. The two from Twelve were decked out in some kind of blackish outfits that made them look like shadows.

A moment later, we were ushered onto our chariots and got in line according to our district numbers. We were behind District Ten, who's members were dressed in what appeared to be leather products.

The crowd cheered as we began to circle around the track. I looked up into the thousands of faces, and saw them delight upon our outfits. The camera screens were showing each of the districts, but I noticed them lighting upon ours quite a bit more often than the other eleven.

XXX

The chariot ride was over very quickly, and we were ushered quickly to the tribute headquarters, twelve levels for each district, and rode to the eleventh floor. We were given food by the Avox, which was a delectable dish full of ripe fruits and bright vegetables with grilled chicken over white rice. It was very good, but it was gone almost instantly.

"Bed! Now!" Ruben called when we finished. "You've both got big days tomorrow! You've got the practice sessions!"

I nearly moaned when he said that, and I dragged myself off to my room, locking myself in and changing into nothing but my under clothes and wrapped myself in the silken sheets (which matched the dress that I'd worn tonight), where I fell asleep almost instantly into a dark, dreamless void.

**Sorry for such a short update on this one... I'm running out of ideas before the Games begin, so if you've got anything, let me know :)**


	5. Training and Alliances

**Gale-Forever: Thanks for reading. Here's some more for you! :)**

The time had come for us to go to our training sessions. Cheryl told us to focus on something that we weren't good at, meaning that I was to stay as far away from knives as possible.

"You use knives daily when you do you're harvesting don't you?" She asked.

"Yes, when I'm working and there's a particular fruit that won't simply pluck off; I'm rather experienced with them," I said.

"There you go. Stay as far away from knives as possible. Try out the swords to make sure they feel the same for you. After, try bows and arrows. Everything except for knives and daggers," She told me, then turned to Willow.

"What are you good at?" She asked cynically.

"Um..." He said trailing off trying to think. I sighed. He may be my best friend, but he had no clue how annoying it was for me when someone didn't know really who they were.

"He's got superb strength. He's the one that wheel off the wheelbarrows when the fruit fills them up," I said. Cheryl raised her eyes at my answer for him.

"Well, perhaps you should find something to throw around, like an ax or a hammer. That should help you in the arena, so stay away from those until you get to you're alone session," She said.

XXX

We loaded ourselves together into the elevator, and then rode down to the training arena. We were the first there, but we were joined very quickly by the Careers from District One, I remembered their names were Silk and Bronze. Both looked us over and were sizing us up. Silk's blond hair shook as she tossed her head from looking at us to snicker with Bronze.

Soon, the tributes from District Two – Elsie and Jazz –, Three – Gaea and Iron –, Four – Angel and Marco –, and five – Yule and Jackson – were with us. The Careers quickly made friends with one another, laughing and glaring at Willow and I, who were the only two there from the non-Career districts.

Finally, after about ten minutes of waiting and listening to Career laughter, the two tributes from Twelve, Snow and Coal, appeared and stood about five feet from Willow and I. Snow, a girl with pale skin that suited her name, and Coal, a boy with jet-black hair, seemed very nice, and they were quiet. I wondered if they felt as though they had been sentenced to death like the rest of us.

"Should we try to make an alliance?" Willow whispered in my ear. I nodded casually and then we walked over to meet the Twelve tributes.

"Hello," Willow said in his low, attractive voice. The two looked scared out of their wits, and I mean, who wouldn't be? Willow was tall and well muscled, though he was very skinny. He towered over the rest of the tributes, even the Careers.

"Hi," Snow said. Her voice matched her. Very small and scared.

"Please don't feel threatened. We were hoping that we could form an alliance?" I said quietly. Coal, the dark one, nodded quickly, and I saw both of them smile.

"Please? We'd like to _not_ die so early on in the Games. Our mentor, Haymitch, is a drunk, and I don't think we'll make it past the cornucopia," He said, and I was surprised to see how much his voice reminded me of Snow's. Small and scared. I wondered what life in District Twelve was like. I hoped it wasn't too terrible.

Eventually, the rest of the tributes arrived in order from the remaining Six through Ten – Cotton and Levi, Hazel and Rex, Gems and Denim, Copper and Fiber, Keller and Jamie. When we were all called to stand at attention, we were placed in order from left to right according to our district number.

"Welcome, tributes, to the training sessions for the Hunger Games. I am Seneca Crane, head Gamemaker. We welcome you to look at and train at each station. At the end of the next two days, you will be called to have a personal session in front of the Gamemakers, so that we can determine the skills that you have," Seneca Crane, head Gamemaker said.

At this, the twenty-four of us split up, though those of us that had made alliances seemed to remain within the same vicinity of one another.

"Remember. No knives," Willow whispered to me as I began to walk over to the sword station. I quickly discovered that while I was good with the sword, I preferred the knife. After a few lessons there with the guy that was instructing, a balding man with a slight beer-belly, I moved on to learn to make a fire. That wasn't something you were really allowed to do in our district. Setting a fire could burn down the orchards.

I learned quickly, however, and then moved on to look at the edible plants and bugs section. I found few things that I didn't know, but I was glad that I looked over. That beetle looked perfectly fine to me, until the instructor woman, who had long dread locks tied back into a pony tail slapped my hand. She showed me a small white marking on the back of the beetle and told me that any bug with a white marking like that was probably dangerous.

Soon, I'd made my way around to bows and arrows. I picked that up quickly, though I couldn't really find a bow that fit me. Each of those seemed to... taught.

Just after I'd made a perfect bulls-eye with my chosen bow, we were called for lunch. I quickly chose a spot next to Willow and Snow and Coal. We were quickly joined by the tributes from District Ten, Keller and Jaimie. Keller, a tall, red-headed girl at the age of fifteen, and her fellow tribute, Jaimie, who's brown hair matched his eyes, quickly asked the four of us if we wanted to team up.

"Ten usually makes it though, right?" Willow asked, slightly confused.

"Ten makes it past the first two days, before they're usually tracked down and killed by the Careers," Jaimie said. He was energetic, and though he was slightly depressed at being in the Games, I knew that he would have made me feel good otherwise. He had unruly hair, and his eyes shown with a spark in them that made me feel as though he was up to no good.

"Then perhaps we'd all make a good team. It would seem that none of our districts tend to hold out when we work alone," I said.

After our quick lunch, we were let back into the training arena.

I decided to brush up on my rope tying skills, which proved to be of use. Since I'd been in the capital, I hadn't thought of the many knots I'd tied while in the orchards. Finally, with only thirty minutes left in the day for training, I returned to the bows and arrows, where I managed to slay twenty out of twenty five targets on the first shot.

When I boarded the elevator with Willow, Snow, Coal, Keller, and Jaimie boarded it with me.

"How was your training?" I asked Snow, who simply nodded her head and said:

"Decent. I'll be OK, I suppose,"

That made me worry. I don't know what it was, but I wanted to protect those that I'd teamed up with. I felt... connected to them somehow.

XXX

I ate my dinner and went to bed early that night. It made the others worry, I suppose, but I didn't care.

When I woke the next morning, I quickly dressed, and then met Willow for breakfast. I barely ate, though I did enjoy my little bagel with honey.

"Ready for another day?" Willow asked me as we entered the elevator.

"I suppose," I told him, and the rest of the ride was in silence. When we arrived, we found that we were a little behind the other tributes. Most of the others were already there, including Snow and Coal. Keller and Jamie showed up just moments after we did, and then we were left waiting on the tributes from six and seven to arrive, which they did after about five minutes of waiting.

When the gamemakers released us into the training arena, I made for the swords and knives section, where I worked out some techniques that I wanted to perfect. I dis-armed the instructor within five minutes of sparring, and then I moved to try an ax. It proved to heavy for me, so the instructor told me I should try the staff sparring instead.

So I did, which proved to be too difficult for me. I couldn't lift the staff – it was too big and kept falling. It extended over my head for at least two feet, and I didn't balance well. I spent the rest of the day at the camouflage section.

By the end of the day, I was successful in painting myself to look like the boulder that I sat against. When they called for time, we were shoveled into the eating area, but there was no food. Simply chairs. We sat, and one by one they called us. I watched as the numbers dwindled down, and I wished both Jaimie and Keller good luck when they were called. Soon after, I wished Willow good luck and I was left with Snow and Coal. They both looked at me solemnly and then both wished me luck.

"What will you do?" Snow asked.

"Well, I didn't try it out in the sessions, because Cheryl told me not to, but I'm gonna do some fabulous work with knives," I told her.

"Oh man, that's cool," Coal said.

"True," Snow whispered, and then gasped when the announcer came on the intercom:

"Orchid Stone, you may now enter the practice arena," She said in a cool voice.

"Good luck!" They both said at the same time.

I walked slowly into the arena, where I found the gamemakers all staring at me. I picked up the knives that had been set out for me, and I lined myself up with my target. I'd already decided how I was going to do this.

Taking aim at my targets, I began running in circles around the dummies, and letting loose daggers at random. I wondered what the gamemakers thought of me making things harder _intentionally_. I had been told by Cheryl that the harder you made it, the higher score you would gain. One of my daggers ripped right through one of the dummies heads, and flew into the other side of the arena, where it stuck in the wall. When I threw my last dagger, I flipped and landed in a crouch in front of the gamemakers, who stared at me with enigmatic looks, though I noticed that a few of them had mouths open in silent O's.

"Have a good afternoon," I said and entered the elevator. When I entered the room, I quickly told the other's how my task had gone and they smiled when I told them of the O's.

"Well, how were you?" I asked Willow pointedly.

"Well enough. I laid waist to tables with the axes and hammers," He told me.

"Threw a tantrum is more like it," Cheryl said smugly.

"Really?" I asked.

"Yeah, I sorta let all of my steam out," Willow told me, his face flushing.

"Well, I hope you enjoyed that, because the scores will be out tomorrow," Ruben said.

With that, I went to bed wondering how well I done, and what kind of scores my friends from Ten and Twelve had received.

XXX

When I woke, I found myself at a breakfast table and talking to Cheryl.

"OK, so you've got to work on your camera skills," She said.

"Why?" I asked, and then I remembered. There was the interview that you had to give with Caesar Flickerman. "Never mind. I remember now. So, what is my personality going to be?" I asked.

"I think since Gin went with the sweet and cute look, we'll stick with that," She said.


	6. The Interviews and Scores

**Soozin: Thanks for that :) Yeah, I was a bit rushed. I finished writing it in thirty minutes, which is very odd for me :P**

XXX

"This is pointless," I said annoyed, throwing up my hands in exasperation.

"Orchid, relax. It's OK," Cheryl said, her voice struggling to stay calm.

"Yes, it's definitely OK that I can't get this right!" I said.

"OK, maybe we should just try spontaneity," Cheryl said.

"When you were picked as a tribute, what went through your mind?" Cheryl asked me in her mock Caesar voice.

"Thank God it isn't my best friend," I said instantly.

"_There_ you are," Cheryl said smiling.

"Oh, so I'm guessing you must be close to your best friend. Who is it?" She asked.

"Leena Plum," I said. "She worked with me in the Orchards,"

"OK, I think we've got it, Orchid. Just answer with clarity the first thing that pops into your mind – unless it's bad-mouthing the Capital," Cheryl said. "I'd better tell Gin that's what we've decided,"

XXX

"So, we're going for reckless?" Gin asked me as I walked into his room after getting prepped.

"Not so much. More like spontaneous," I said. His face visibly relaxed and I saw him turn around and start rummaging through a rack of clothes.

"Eyes shut," He instructed me. "Arms up,"

I felt something slide over my body – it felt like satin. Gin tugged something on my back and the dress that he'd put on me tightened a bit so that it would fit snugly but not so that I couldn't breathe.

"There, take a look," Gin said in my ear.

My eyes opened and I took in the beautiful creature in the mirror. Her long black hair was shiny and was brushed behind her ears. Her skin, tanned from her work in the orchards, was seen on her face, arms, and legs. She was dressed in a beautiful orchid colored gown, with darker and lighter shades running throughout its fabric. Her green eyes were touched ever so gently with eye shadow to make her eyes appear bright and quick-witted. Her mouth, touched with a light pink lipstick was open in a small O.

"You're an amazing stylist," I told Gin as I tore my eyes from the girl in the mirror that was my reflection.

"Thank you. But a stylist is only as good as his client," Gin told me, smiling.

"Well, come on then, we'd better go," He said, holding his arm out to me. I looped my arm with his and we walked along the room.

We met Willow in the hallway, and his stylist had dressed him in an outfit to suit his name. It was a dark gray suit with a deep greenish blue tie. He had a light pink flower in his lapel, and slight green eye shadow applied to his eyes. He reminded me of a willow tree, and my description can't compare to the true thing.

"You look amazing," He told me as we started walking outside, to the car that was waiting on us.

"You look amazing as well," I told him.

The ride to the interview place was very short, and we each took out seats – the tributes that is. We sat in a large semi-circle around the stage, while Caesar Flickerman, this year in a bright yellow, stood in the middle.

"Panem, Happy Seventieth Hunger Games!" Caesar called, the crowd roaring along with him.

XXX

We waited, my allies and I, through other district's interviews. When they called out for Keller to come down to the stage, Willow elbowed my side to wake me up – I'd dozed off a bit. I hope they didn't catch me on the camera's like that.

Keller, dressed in a simple gown the color of an Autumn twilight sky, walked gracefully to the center of the stage where she was hugged by Caesar.

"Ladies and gentlemen, Keller Wrenshaw, District Ten's female tribute!" Caesar called and the audience clapped politely.

"Keller, tell us, what's been your favorite part of the Capital so far?"

Keller looked around the crowd and put her hand over her mouth and her eyebrows scrunched together and the audience laughed at her "thinking" face.

"I think I love the food here. It's amazing," Keller said.

"Oh? And what has been your favorite dish?" Caesar asked.

"That's a really hard question. I love food, so it's always hard to choose a dish for my favorite,"

"Well, I heard from your stylist that the first thing you ate was a plate of orange grilled chicken," Caesar said.

"Is that what it was called?" Keller asked amazed. "It was delicious, and whoever made it deserves some recognition," Keller said and applauded politely, and the audience roared in delight.

The rest of Keller's interview and Jamie's interview went about the same. They had portrayed themselves to be hard thinkers. During Jamie's interview, there was a buzzing in my ear where my orchid-shaped earrings were and I heard a voice; Gin was talking to me via my earrings.

"Orchid!" Gin said and I realized it and sat up a bit to show I was paying attention.

"Orchid, listen, there's a key to your outfit that you have to use when you get up there," Gin said.

Carefully, so as not to raise suspicions that I was getting some kind of advice, I used my hand to daintily brush my hair behind my ear.

"When you get up there, act like you're losing your step and then when Caesar grabs you to steady you, say you need to take the heels off because they're killing your feet. The rest will unfold from there,"

I gave an ever so slight nod and then turned my attention to Caesar as he called my name.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, may I present Orchid Stone?" Caesar said, and the Capital audience screamed in delight.

As I stood and walked to the stage center, I lost my footing – not on purpose, but by accident, and as Caesar grabbed my arm, I looked at him apologetically.

"Sorry, the heels my designer gave me are treacherous," I said. "Could I take them off? He told me to if I almost fell so I could stop any injury,"

Caesar and the crowd laughed and then said: 

"Of course my dear, go right ahead,"

With that I stooped down and quickly pulled off the heels and smelled something. The smell of fresh orchids. When I looked down at my dress, I realized that the heels had pulled something and my dress fell apart. But I wasn't naked – in fact underneath I was dressed in a white dress with light purple veins running through it and the purple section, so intricately connected I hadn't noticed, fell apart into hundreds of Orchid blooms.

"Well, that was simply fantastic!" Caesar said, picking up one of the blooms and smelling it gently.

I smiled in amazement at what Gin had been able to do to me – possibly helped me get a few sponsors.

"Orchid Stone, you are full of surprises!"

"Why thank you," I said, the first thing that popped into my mind.

"And polite as well," Caesar said shaking his yellow head and smiling. "So, Orchid, tell us: What went through your mind when you were picked for the reaping?"

"I can't tell you just how much went through my mind," I said. "I was worried, obviously – my family relies on me to do my part in the orchards you know, aside from their pastry shop. And I wondered about how my baby brother Thorn would be. And I was also grateful – grateful that it hadn't been my best friend," I said.

"Yes, I would imagine that it was quite... humbling," Caesar said trying to find the right word.

"Yes it was," I said.

"Tell us about your family. You say you've got a baby brother. What is your family like?"

"Thorn is a baby – he's only five years old, but I always worry about him. I love him more than I can say in words," And the audience "Awe"d. "My mom is a lot like me – very impulsive. I got my hair from her, though hers is graying a bit now. She runs the pastry shop and my dad does the baking. My dad is this jolly guy and he's only ever sad during three days a year. The day his mom passed away, then his dad, and lastly, the day before the reaping," There was quiet then.

"Why is he sad before the reaping?" Caesar asked expectantly.

"It's hard to say," I said. And then "My dad knows everyone in District Eleven. He knows everyone if not by name at least by their face. He could describe any one of us. After the reaping, he's the first to console the family that has lost a child," I said. "In a way, I get my kind attributes from him," I said.

"Well, I hope you'll be successful in the games Orchid," Caesar said.

"I do too, Caesar. For my family," I said.

XXX

The rest of the interviews passed by all too quickly, and at the end of them, Caesar announced our personal training scores from the Gamemakers.

"District One. Silk earned a nine and Bronze earned a ten," Caesar said. There was clapping and applause.

"District Two. Elsie got a seven and Jazz received a six. District Three. Gaea received a five and Iron obtained a seven," clapping and such.

District Four. Angel – eight, Marco – seven.

District Five. Yule – five, Jackson – six.

District Six. Cotton – four, Levi – five.

District Seven. Hazel – seven, Rex – eight.

District Eight. Gems – eight, Denim – eight.

District Nine. Copper – nine, Fiber – six.

District Ten. Keller – six, Jamie – six.

District Eleven. Orchid – nine, Willow nine.

District Twelve. Snow – seven, Coal – seven.

Our scores surprised me. I hadn't expected it. Everything seemed so strange, and when we got back to the room, Cheryl grasped me into a hug.

"Absolutely wonderful," She told me. "Just make sure that you can keep it up in the games,"


	7. Kaleidoscope

**Soozin: You're absolutely right of course :) So, this chapter we'll deviate from Orchid's POV a bit and we'll learn more about our tributes from 10 and 12 :)**

**For anyone not interested in learning about Willow and the tributes from 10 and 12, I suggest you don't read this, as it's basically going to be chapter six but re-written, from the other's POVs. First we'll get Keller, then Jamie, then I'll switch back to Willow to listen to Orchid's interview and then his, and then we'll do Snow and Coal. Enjoy.**

XXX

Willow's POV:

Mercedes dressed me in a suit that matched my name. Even by glancing, my suit appeared as though it had once been the bark of a weeping willow tree. She accented it by having me wear a very dark blue and green tie.

She applied some light dark forest green eyeshadow to my eyes to make them pop out a bit.

"There you go darling, just like a willow tree," Mercedes told me, patting my hand.

They had me sit in the prep room listening to my prep team – Rei, a woman with short aqua blue hair, Havius, a guy with black and red tattoos all over his body and two lip piercings, and a guy with bright orange skin named Locaney – talked non-sense as we waited for Orchid to be finished. I never understood why she always took so long to be done, but I assumed it was because she was a girl.

"OK, she's ready," Mercedes said, popping her head into the prep room. I stood and allowed Mercedes to once over me before she led me into the hall. I stood there for a few minutes before Orchid joined me, looking absolutely gorgeous in her purple gown.

"You look amazing," I told her, though I knew that was an understatement. As we began walking to the car that awaited us, she looked at me and then said:

"You look amazing as well," She told me, but I knew she was only saying that to make me feel better. Between the two of us, she was the star of District Eleven.

XXX

Keller's POV:

Caesar Flickerman was dressed in a God-awful yellow this year. It was almost blinding. It annoyed me too an extent to where I was ready to tell him to go cover himself up.

"Ladies and gentlemen, Keller Wrenshaw, District Ten's female tribute!" He called in his annoying voice. I stood in my beautiful sunset dress and made my way down gracefully.

"Keller, tell us, what's been your favorite part of the Capital so far?"

At this, I scrunched up my eyebrows and put my hand over my mouth. My mentor, Lisha, told me to act as though I was a deep thinker, though it annoyed me.

"I think I love the food here. It's amazing," I said.

"Oh? And what has been your favorite dish?" Caesar asked.

"That's a really hard question. I love food, so it's always hard to choose a dish for my favorite,"

"Well, I heard from your stylist that the first thing you ate was a plate of orange grilled chicken," Caesar said.

"Is that what it was called?" I asked, pretending to be amazed. "It was delicious, and whoever made it deserves some recognition," I said and applauded politely, and the audience roared in delight.

"Thank you, Keller," Caesar Flickerman said, and then turning to the audience, he said:

"Ladies and gentlemen, may I present Jamie Spinnet?"

XXX

Jamie's POV:

I was dressed in a basic suit, though I couldn't get over the color. It was a shiny, but dull colored orange, and it made me feel as though I was stepping out of the sun during twilight.

When Caesar called my name, I stood up and walked over to him quickly, brushing my short brown hair back. My energy must be loved by a lot of people, because the audience clapped enthusiastically. That was one thing that might keep me alive in this – my ADHD.

"Ah, Jamie! How are you?"

"Wonderful thanks. And you?" I asked.

"Splendid, simply splendid!" Caesar said. "Now, are you a food lover like your fellow tribute?"

"Oh absolutely," I said. "I actually had the same dish that she had our first day here. Though I think I prefer the grilled garlic broccoli," I said.

"Yes, it is rather mouthwatering isn't it?" Caesar said to the audience. "So, tell us, what is the idea behind your dress this evening?"

"Very good question, Caesar," I said and my eyebrows crossed together. "To be honest I'm not sure. I think our stylist was still thinking of how to portray us from our district. For instance, if you put myself and Keller's outfits together, we look like the Autumn sunset in Ten," I said.

There was ooh's and ahh's from the audience and then applause. I could see them putting two and two together, and my face broke out into a grin.

"Well, you've got a very talented stylist on your hands,"

"Thanks, but he doesn't take a lot of credit," I said.

"So, tell us – what were you thinking about when you were chosen for the Games?"

"Well... to be honest I was concerned about how my family would get along. I live with my grandmother and grandfather – my dad was killed by a stampede, and my mother was chosen at eighteen for the reaping after she had me," There was silence and I heard a few gasps of horror. "My grandparents are kind of old you know; they can't take care of themselves quite like they used to. I hope District Ten is helping them out," I said directly to the cameras.

"I'm sure your district is doing what they can to help your remaining family," Caesar said right before the bell rang.

"Well, it looks like our time is up, Jamie!" Caesar said happily, and I returned to my seat to applause.

XXX

Willow's POV:

I had nudged Orchid awake when they called Keller for her interview. She had only fallen asleep for interviews with Nine's tributes, but it wouldn't look good for the cameras if they caught her.

When they called her name, I watched as she made her way across the stage, wobbling a bit; she wasn't accustomed to those heels. And I gasped along with the rest of Panem as she fell. Luckily Caesar grabbed her arm and steadied her.

"Sorry, the heels my designer gave me are treacherous," She said. "Could I take them off? He told me to if I almost fell so I could stop any injury,"

I looked at her in astonishment. She was actually asking if she could take off her heels? Was she crazy? But Caesar told her to, so as she took off her heels, myself and the rest of Panem watched in astonishment as her dress fell to pieces. No... not pieces. Flowers. She had been wearing a dress made of interlinked orchids. It was beautiful. As the last of the purple blooms fell to the stage, my eyes slowly made their way up to look at Orchid herself.

Under the flowers, she was wearing a light, white dress with veins of purple running throughout the materials. The rest of Panem was clapping in amazement, and I saw Orchid look down, obviously not knowing what had happened and when she saw, her eyes widened. The audience was deafening, and I smiled to myself. Gin had outdone himself. He'd done what he could to help her get sponsors.

XXX

"Ladies and gentlemen, may I present to you, Willow Nettles?" Caesar called happily, and the crowd cheered as I walked forward. We'd decided that my personality for the interview was going to be tall, dark, handsome, and intellectual.

"Good evening, Caesar," I said.

"Well, good evening to you too, Willow," He smiled, and I couldn't help but notice just how badly his yellow was shining was compared to my dark colors. "So, tell us. How are you enjoying the Capital?"

"The people here are strange," I said immediately.

"How so?" Caesar asked, his face turning up into a smile and causing me to laugh at the expression.

"Well, you're all so... happy," I said a small smile on my lips.

"Well, we have reason to be," Caesar said happily.

"That you do. You've got so much stuff here. Unlike Eleven. We've done good enough to get food," I said laughing.

"Yes, we do have a lot of food don't we?" Caesar asked the crowd, and they laughed. "What were you thinking at the time of the reaping?"

"Well... I was just glad that it wasn't one of my little brothers. I would have volunteered had it been one of them," I said seriously.

"You've got brothers. How many?"

"Three. They're all younger than I am, but old enough for the reaping,"

"Oh, I see. Tell us, what are their names?"

I hesitated, then decided to go ahead and tell them.

"Jay, Robin, and Cedar," I said, and I was surprised to find my eyes stinging. I blinked several times to hold back the tears, but I think one escaped because there was an 'awe,' from the crowd.

"Well, I think you need to win for your brothers," Caesar said.

"I have to try," I said.

I was at a loss for words, and I stood there awkwardly for a few moments before the bell rang out.

"Thank you, Willow. I'm sure you're going to have a lot of support in the Games!" Caesar said.

XXX

Snow's POV:

I was sure that the rest of the country was tired of just sitting there. Especially having to wait on District Twelve's interviews. No one really cared about our district. The only reason that we were there is because they needed our coal.

I was dressed in a blinding white dress to match my name. My designer wanted me to appear cute and innocent. My only accessories were a white bow on my head to hold back my hair and a silver snowflake necklace. I was of the opinion that it was far too simple. The Capital people usually preferred extravagance. But designers knew what they were doing – or at least most of them.

"Snow Harps, ladies and gentlemen!" Caesar called. I joined him quickly and gave the cameras my sweetest smile.

"Snow, Snow, Snow, where to begin?" Caesar asked casually.

"You tell me?" I replied smiling. The audience laughed.

"Do you think you'll be able to make it through the games, or do you have a strategy in mind?" Caesar asked when the crowd settled.

"I have a good idea for what I'm going to do, but I'm not about to share it. That would be giving too much away," I said winking at the cameras. "I don't know about how far I might make it. I won't know until we actually start,"

"Yes, well, I bet you're very nervous,"

"I am. I'm mostly worried about the small set of people that I have that actually care about my well-being though,"

"Oh?" He asked, surprised.

"Yes," I said, smiling in a melancholy manner.

"Like your family, I would assume,"

"Yes, but I have a few friends too,"

"Who would you say is your closest friend?"

"Coal," I said simply. There was no use in hiding it. Coal and I had been best friends for as long as I could remember. And we were actually cousins.

"Oh dear me," Caesar said frowning and the rest of the audience let out a moan.

"Yes, but we've both decided to watch each others backs until... something happens and... we can't," I said.

"Well, thank you for that insight," Caesar said winking. "So ladies and gentlemen, we are coming on our last contestant and last interview of the night. Give a warm welcome everyone, to Coal Freeheart!"

XXX

Coal's POV:

I was shaking from head to toe when I stood to join Caesar in the middle of the stage. Everything was so bright and loud; it was a stark contrast to how I was dressed, in my dark suit. I think Caesar felt my distress because he was quick to help me relax.

"Coal, you must be tired after sitting through the last twenty three interviews," Caesar said laughing.

"Not really Caesar. I'm actually glad we get to watch all of these and that Twelve gets to be last. I get to see my competition," I said.

"Oh-ho, ladies and gentlemen, I think that we may actually have a good Twelve tribute this year!"

"I'm not so sure. There have been a few alliances formed amongst the tributes already. It's part of my job to help out,"

"Could you enlighten us to these... alliances, as you so well put them?"

"No, I don't really think I should," I said and there were sounds of protest of the crowd. "I mean, that would ruin the suspense wouldn't it?" I asked.

"Too true, and I know how we Capital members enjoy our suspense!" Caesar said laughing. "So tell us, what is your main goal in this years Games?"

"I think... it's to help my teammates survive. I don't care if I survive, I just want them to go on," I decided after a moment.

There was dead quiet in the room for a few moments and then Caesar said quietly:

"Well, we're looking forward to seeing you in action,"

"Thanks Caesar," I said.

XXX

**Well, there's that. I'm sorry it's taking so long on the updates, I've been really busy with school work and all. I hope you enjoyed it; I know it bounced around quite a bit, and some of the tribute interviews are much shorter in comparison to the others, but I'm just simply running out of things to say. The Games are going to start soon though, and I think that's when things will get interesting ;)**


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